Myth Art Online
by redborn28
Summary: 5 years after the Sword Art Online incident, a heavily modified game engine based on the Sword Art Online module was developed, one that not only featured swords but also magic. Now, a highschool student named Art, an avid gamer, logs in for the first time...and soon realizes that this new world might be even more dangerous for a mere 'virtual reality online game'.
1. Art The Gamer

Chapter 1

Note: The virtual world that will be used here will not be Aincrad but rather a world of my own creation.

* * *

It was just a matter of time before virtual gaming overtook and made obsolete online gaming on computers. The development of the Nervegear ensured that virtual gaming became the next fad, turning your dreams into a reality and allowed you to live a second live in the virtual world with your own body, your consciousness.

Unfortunately, the distribution of Nervegear in southeast asia was slow in coming, with the infamous Sword Art Online incident making the headlines of every newspaper around the world. It was unthinkable that the inventor of the Nervegear, Kayaba Akihiko, would be the one responsible for the many deaths that occurred in-game.

Also let us not forget that it was 5 years after that Nervegear eventually arrived on the shores of southeast asia, with gaming powerhouses like the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to name a few each getting 100,000 copies thanks in part to China's ability to mass produce said equipment and because of the fact that gamers in southeast asia are a competitive bunch.

They sold out the gears within 3 hours of arrival, causing a shortage and forcing game stores to frantically place more orders. The realm of VMMO gaming has expanded and now many similar servers are sprouting around the world.

* * *

And thus, the story begins in a city to the south of the Philippines, where an ordinary teenager, whose passion for gaming exceeds that of his schooling, will forge a legend that will forever be remembered by those who fought by his side.

It was a bright, sunny morning in the city, with droves of people going about their own business, always being mindful of the many traffic and walking signs that dotted the city.

There is also the occasional driver who disregards the rules and gets fined, the fine itself rumored to be used as pocket money by the traffic aides.

The city was bustling with life, the neon signs glowing, the jeepney's doing their rounds, taxi drivers taking their passengers from one destination to the next, the occasional arrival of a passenger plane from outside the Philippines.

But it is not the focus of the story for we now turn our attention from the city to our protagonist, who is your average high school boy. He had black, spiky hair and chocolate brown eyes. He wore black-framed glasses and a silver cross medallion dangled on his neck. He was dressed in a blue and white cotton uniform, with the emblem of Annea Academy on the right pocket on his chest, a blue paladin wielding a lance and a shield and wore khaki pants paired with worn black leather shoes.

What made him stand out however was his intelligence. Acknowledged as the smartest person in school, he was the envy and idol of many, not to mention the fact that he had this charming disposition which also made him a chick magnet, which led to some of the boys declaring war on him.

Annea Academy is one of the premier schools in the city, with a high standard of education and its facilities top notch. The unfortunate thing is that the tuition fee runs in the thousands of pesos, which for most middle class families will prompt strict budgeting of their incomes.

It was a four-story building with 12 classrooms for the high school section alone. It occupied an area equal to four football fields formed into a square, with an indoor swimming pool, a gym, an auditorium, a basketball court, a soccer field and a track field.

In one of the classrooms we see a boy seated to the far left near the windows. Said boy sighed as he listened to a lecture in his math class, his teacher incessantly droning about her lesson, with most of his classmates falling asleep. On his left his friend Carl was scribbling on his notebook, no doubt ignoring the lecture and on his right is his childhood friend Clarise, who, aside from him, was also listening to the lecture.

The boy checked his watch. It read 3:20 pm. He turned towards the window, admiring the sight of people scurrying about, dogs running around and cars passing by blaring their horns. His thoughts turned to the Nervegear gaming system that he bought on his 14th birthday using his savings.

"Man, I can't wait to try it when I get home," he muttered. "I hope the gameworld is different from the Japanese version since they allowed custom modifications to be done."

As he his gaze focused outside the window his childhood friend Clarise saw him looking outside, no doubt thinking about the new game he bought from a DataGames store in AM mall.

Clarise is what you would describe as normal. Normal looks. Normal clothes. Normal personality with her only significant feature being the more athletic of the two. She had long, flowing brown hair that reached down to her waist with black colored eyes. She wore a white and blue cotton blouse, with a blue skirt that reached down to her knees paired with black bunny shoes and white socks.

"You're still addicted to games huh Art," she commented. "I just hope that you know your priorities."

She said the last statement to herself, hoping that he will know the meaning of balance. Her gaze then went back to the blackboard, listening intently to the teachers lecture.

And the bell rang, signifying the end of another day. The teacher gave students their assignment, a 10 number question in simplifying polynomials, before dismissing them.

The students shuffled their things inside their bags and said their goodbyes to one another. Art himself rose from his seat, slung his bag on his right arm and walked out the room, his focus still on the game.

"Hey Art! Wait for me!" Clarise called out to him. Art stopped near the door and waited, allowing her to catch up. "Seriously! You've been thinking about the game since morning."

"I can't help it you know? I have this excitement inside of me that I can't describe in words," he said excitedly, "and this is the first virtual mmo in the Philippines so it will be a historical moment in Philippine gaming history."

"Okay, okay, just calm down. I know how you feel and I understand but don't make it as an excuse to skip on your studies," she lectured him. "Sure, you always get first honors every year but do not sacrifice it for the sake of your gaming time."

"Aww..come on! You don't have faith in me?" he asked in mock hurt. "I thought we were friends?"

"Har, har. Very funny genius. Be thankful that someone at least makes the effort to wake you up early in the morning," she said with a sarcastic tone. "God knows how bad your sleeping habits are and I'm not exaggerating."

Art just waved his hand in response to her statement. "Hey! Come on, its not that bad…I think?"

Clarise facepalmed because of his denseness when it came to this issue. "Fine, fine. I won't bother you with regards to your sleeping habits, but make sure you get lots of sleep okay?" she said this in a kind motherly tone.

He just nodded his head in response and both made their way to the exit, where they started talking about school, books and the occasional newstory. The rest of the walk was spent in silence.

* * *

When they reached Art's home, they both said their goodbyes to one another, with Art quickly unlocking the gate to his home and sprinting upstairs to his room. When he arrived in his room there laid on his bed the Nervegear with its Blackbox(the program) below his desk near the bed.

He turned on the Blackbox, grabbed the Nervegear from his bed, and placed it on his head. A humming sound indicated the success of the program in reading his mind.

"Alright, lets get this show on the road," he said in a cocky tone. "Link Start."

He felt his consciousness fading in the real world, being read and transferred by the server to the virtual world. He saw a multitude of colors as his consciousness was sucked in the vacuum of space. He eventually reached an empty space, devoid of objects.

Slowly, a screen appeared begin displayed as a hologram of sorts. He saw that it was the character creation menu.

**In-game name:** Arc

**Class:** Swordsman

Satisfied, he clicked the confirm button. The screen vanished in a ball of light, with the empty space eventually revealing the game world. It was a world with rolling green plains, tall mountain peaks and tranquil oceans. Eventually, the empty space gradually unfurled itself, and suddenly he realized that he was in the starting city of Davon.

With a smirk, he said "Let's get started shall we?" and ran to the exit of the city, towards the training fields. Thus, it was the beginning of a legend, one where a single boy will change the face of this virtual world.

A world full of endless possibilities.

A world where you only get one chance to live.

A world where you can be anyone you ever wanted.

A world where you can escape from the harsh reality.

A world where fame and fortune await those who dare.

A world where swords and magic co-exist with one another.

A world filled with different creatures and cultures.

This is the world of myth. The home of legends and monsters. The home of the Gods.

So I welcome all players to my world.

Welcome to Myth Art Online.

* * *

**Character Stats:**

**Name: Arc**

**Class: Swordsman**

**LV: 1**

**HP: 10**

**MP: 40**

**STR: 2**

**AGI: 6**

**INT: 24**

**DEX: 5**

**LUK: 9**

**SKILLS: N/A**


	2. Two For One

Chapter 2

* * *

The City of Davon was located in the western part of the Myth Continent, where the weather is always bright and sunny. It was surrounded by walls on all sides, with the mayors tower located in the middle. From the tower the Arms Merchant was to the north, the Supplies Merchant was to the south, the Forge was to the east and the Adventurer's Guild was to the west. They were surrounded in between by houses, with a few inns interspersed between them.

Among the inns, the most popular was the Traveler's Cove, located to the northeast of the city. It was a building with two floors, with 3 windows per floor and had tables with chairs outside the entrance . The size of the building could be compared to a motel.

As Art ran, he passed by the inn as a blur, not even bothering to glance sideways and bumped into some players along the way. He finally reached the exit, an arch made of brick with a town guard standing in attention. The guard followed Art with his eyes, making sure that he was not a player killer, before turning his eyes straight back.

He soon reached the training fields, all the while panting from the effort.

As soon as Art reached the training fields, he opened his stats menu, and his eyes widened in surprise as he read his stats:

**Stats:**

**Str: 2**

**Agi: 6**

**Int: 24**

**Dex: 5**

**Luk: 9**

As soon as he saw his STR stat, he muttered, "The Hell?! Why do I have 2 str? As a swordsman I should have more than that amount." He grumbled and continued to read the screen and saw that his INT stat had a value of 24. To say that he was surprised was an understatement and he immediately understood that the game based his stats on his real world ability.

"Damn, I forgot about that," he smacked his head at the surprise revelation, "I never knew that the game would take itself seriously. And to think I chose a swordsman of all classes." He sighed.

He closed the stat menu and checked his HP and SP bar and again he was surprised about the values displayed on it:

**HP: 10**

**MP: 40**

"WTF?! 10 HP? %$#^$^#&$^#& &^&#&$#$ #&#^ ^#$" he cursed like a madman, like a man who was cheated out of a bargain. After awhile he calmed down and said: "Daaaamn, this is impossible. With a HP value of 10 I can easily get killed. Not to mention that I am easy pickings for even the weakest of monsters."

Nevertheless, he decided to make use of what he was given, knowing that this is a virtual world, he can make the impossible possible. Finally he checked his equipment and saw that he was given the most basic gears:

**Armor: Cotton shirt**

**Weapon: Wooden sword**

**Belt: 2 MP potions**

When he saw that he had MP potions instead of HP potions, he again cursed like a madman, this time scaring off some of the players who passed by him, whispering in hushed tones that he was a raving lunatic.

After he cooled off, he sighed and decided to level up his skills, knowing that he can somewhat compensate for his low STR and extremely low HP, which was even lower than a Mage, through his other stats like INT, AGI and DEX.

Not to mention that he can use his knowledge and creativity to tip the scales in his favor. So he walked around, looking for the nearest enemy. While he did so, he saw a lot of players also leveling, some of them used swords, others used axes and spears while some used a bow.

He continued to search the fields, hoping to find a spare monster for him to kill and also to get some loot in the process since the fields had many players who were leveling. It took him an hour before he found one.

* * *

Eventually he found a monster, a Sun Eater, a monster that resembled a sunflower with a menacing grin and 2 eyes and walked using its roots with vines protruding out of its body. He observed the monster for awhile, observing its movement, and suddenly a surge of data entered his mind, displaying the monsters data:

**[Sun Eater]**

**HP: 50**

**Lv: 2**

**Race: Plant**

**Weakness: Fire**

"Whoah, I can read monsters now?" he exclaimed in surprise, "50 HP?! There's no way I'll be able to survive a single hit against it."

Then, a bright light engulfed him and saw that he learned his first skill:

**Insight(Passive): Grants the player the ability to see an opponents strengths, weaknesses and combat pattern. Also increases Experience gained from monsters and rewards.**

His eyes widened in surprise, knowing that it will help him choose which monster to fight and not to fight because of his extremely low HP. Even with this ability, he was still not confident if he can kill it or not but decided to kill it because it was the only way to grow strong.

He dashed towards the creature, his sword raised overhead. The creature noticed his action and decided to attack, lifting one of its vines to hit him. He brought the sword down and managed to slice off its vines, with the creature screeching in agony.

"Whoah, I managed to slice off its vines with my 2 STR? I can't believe it!," he said disbelievingly. A bright light suddenly engulfed him..and he learned his second skill:

**Counter(Passive): This skill allows the player to counter an opponents attack regardless of his/her stats. **

"It's a useful skill no doubt," he muttered, "and it will allow me to tip the scales to my favor." He focused his gaze on the creature, who began to attack him again. As the creature swung its remaining vine, he sliced it off and with a thrust struck its head, the creature shaking in pain as it dissolved into many particles.

After the creature was gone, a light shone down from above his head, with a prompt showing that he gained a level:

**LV. 2**

He checked his stats and his HP/MP bar to see if there were changes:

**Stats:**

**STR: 5**

**AGI: 8**

**INT: 28**

**DEX: 7**

**LUK: 10**

**HP: 12**

**MP: 46**

"Ugh, only a two point increase to my HP," he sighed, "Ah well, I'll live with it." He shrugged and then decided to level up some more.

* * *

The sun was still shining by the time he was done, gaining two more levels, which was surprising since he thought that he would have a hard time leveling up.

"I owe it to the two new skills I've got to be able to survive this far," he thought to himself. "I can't wait for tomorrow."

He decided to stop today and continue tomorrow, feeling satisfied that he managed to level up with some effort. He opened his stat menu to check on his stats:

**Stats:**

**STR: 10**

**AGI: 13**

**INT: 37**

**DEX: 12**

**LUK: 12**

**HP: 17**

**MP: 65**

**Skills: **

**Insight(Passive) LV. 3**

**Counter(Passive) LV. 2**

"Hmm..not bad at all," he muttered, "at least I can survive a few attacks now." He shrugged and decided to go back to Davon City. Along the way he passed by some players taking on a Wild Wolf, a monster in the shape of a wolf with its thick, brown fur sticking out.

**[Wild Wolf]**

**HP: 100**

**LV: 4**

**Race: Beast**

**Weakness: Wind**

"A level 4 monster with 100 HP? Daamn, that's a strong one," he observed. The wolf managed to take out 5 of the players before being killed by the rest, with the survivor's cheering in victory. He continued his journey and arrived early in the city, and lodged in at the Travelers' Cove Inn for the day.

So the day passed by, and by the time he woke up it was already night time, with the lights of the inn illuminating the inside. There were also many players staying at the inn, some chattering while others were eating their meals. This was the scene he woke up to after his nap.

"Man, I had a good nap," he stretched his arms as he slowly got up the bed. He got dressed, grabbed his sword and went downstairs. As he went to the exit, he passed by a poster with a quest posted on it:

**[Material Quest 1]**

**LV: 4 to 10**

**Reward: Custom Weapon, 100 G**

**Rank: A**

"An A-rank quest this early? I'll take it!" he grabbed the poster and saw that his quest log was updated with the new quest. He saw that he needed 5 materials to complete the quest:

**5 Vines (from Sun Eater)**

**5 Brown Fur(from Wild Wolf)**

**5 Flame Skin(from Fire Fox)**

**5 Water Beads(From Water Spirit)**

**5 Broken Nail(From Corpse Eater)**

"WTF?! 3 of those monsters are in the 7-10 level range," he shouted without being heard by the other players, "and I can't even cancel the quest." He shed a couple of tears because he had to take them on despite his weak HP.

He wiped the tears off his face and decided to head out into the Magic Plains, which was 2 fields away from the Training Fields, and had some difficult to fight monsters which had already taken the lives of 43 players. He uttered a short prayer before moving on, knowing that he will need it.

* * *

**Character Stats:**

**Name: Arc**

**Class: Swordsman**

**LV: 4**

**STR: 10**

**AGI: 13**

**INT: 37**

**DEX: 12**

**LUK: 12**

**HP: 17**

**MP: 65**

**Skills: **

**Insight(Passive) LV. 3**

**Counter(Passive) LV. 2**


End file.
